10 Psychology Principles To Make You a Better Marketer
Behind marketing buzzwords like “customer-centric” and “consumer behaviour” lies the relationship between marketing and psychology. A key part of being a great marketer - and let’s face it, as a small business owner, you are a marketer - is understanding how (and why) people think and act. It’s why we put so much emphasis on developing customer avatars and really knowing your audience. I mean, isn’t it really difficult to create compelling content, if you don’t know what would compel your audience in the first place? Before deep-diving into the nitty-gritty of your marketing strategy, it’s really helpful to understand how people operate. And that, my friend, is essentially what the entire field of psychology attempts to explain.
Understanding some key psychology principles can take your marketing from so-so to so-amazing! To help you become a better marketer, here are 10 important principles of psychology that you can use in your marketing.
10 Important Principles of Psychology
#1. Authority
The principle of authority relies on the theory that consumers trust people who are in charge, who are professionals or experts in their fields. The markings of authority can be expertise, titles, uniforms, or recommendations that establish you as a thought leader, an expert or a source of credible information.
In this example, Moroccanoil is drawing on our innate response to the expertise that a hair stylist would have. If it’s their favourite, it must be good right?
#2. Reciprocity
The concept of reciprocity is simple - if someone does something for you, you naturally want to do something for them. Ever been given a mint with your bill at a restaurant? This is a prime example of reciprocity at play.
According to Dr. Robert Cialdini, who wrote “Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion”, when a server brings the bill to a table without a mint, the diners tip according to their perception of the service received. But, add a mint to the bill? The tip jumps up 3.3%. Add two mints? The tip jumps “through the roof” to roughly 20%!
In your marketing, there are lots of ways that you can leverage reciprocity. In fact, we do it all the time with free lead magnets (in exchange for an email address). There are tons of things that you can give away for free without it breaking the bank - it could be an exclusive ebook, a free phone wallpaper, or even your expertise on a subject matter. Just make sure that you’re giving away the free thing before asking for something in return!
True story - in South Africa, waiters and waitresses often work for tips only, so you can always expect a whopping amount of mints with your bill!
#3. Social Proof
You’re probably aware of this concept already, but it definitely needed a spot on this list. People are far more likely to buy a product or service if they know other people who have already bought it. Think testimonials, case studies, shout-outs, reviews, user-generated content and content sharing. All of these things are ways that we can show potential customers what other people think and say about your business. Some are more subtle than others (for example - if someone shares your blog post to their social channels, they aren’t outright saying “I bought from this business and they’re great”, but they are showing their friends that they found value in it), but they all add to developing that coveted know-like-trust factor that gets people buying from you!
Customer testimonial on the Haute Stock website.
#4. The Decoy Effect
You’ll often see the decoy effect at play in pricing models - one price point is intentionally included to entice you to choose the more expensive option. Let’s look at Boost Juice as an example. Their Junior size is $6.20, and the Medium size is $7.20. But then you jump up to the much larger Original size, and it’s $7.80 - only $0.60 more than the medium. Why wouldn’t you get the larger size for just an extra 60c?
The lesson here? If you’re looking to increase conversion on a landing page with two options, consider adding a third. It could help increase the conversion rate of the option you’d ultimately want people to take. In the case above - the larger juice size.
#5. Urgency & Scarcity
This principle is based on the idea that the rarer the opportunity, content, or product is, the more valuable it is. Only 3 seats left on a plane at x price? Yip, that’s scarcity, and people will want to snap those up and be 1 of the 3 who got the last seats at that price. Only 24 hours left of that sale? You better buy it now before it ends. Urgency and scarcity instill that age-old feeling of “FOMO” within us because none of us wants to miss out!
If you use urgency and scarcity in your marketing, make sure you frame the context correctly. For scarcity, you want to frame it so that it appears that there used to be a heap of products available, but due to popular demand, there are now only a few left. For urgency, you need to use an actual deadline, not just a perceived one.
In this example, you can see the use of a countdown clock conveys that urgency as it constantly ticks down to the end of the offer. Once that clock hits 0, the limited-time bonus offers will disappear, and the price will go back up to the normal price. It’s still available to be purchased, but just without those bonus offers.
In this example, the Kasey Rainbow body oil range from Skinned is a limited edition, which will make people feel that they must buy now before it runs out and they miss their chance. Skinned do this quite a lot with their products, partnering with other brands and celebrities to make limited edition body oils, and it is very effective!
#6. Anchoring
Ever wondered why it’s so hard to resist a sale at your favourite online store? I definitely didn’t need those last two dresses that I bought from Little Party Dress, but they were having a sale, so I did it anyway! Often, the culprit (besides our own rubber arms) is anchoring. People base their decisions on the first piece of information they receive. So, if my favourite clothing store typically sells dresses for $89.99, but I find them on sale for $59.99, I’ll be stoked! Bargain! On the other hand, my friend who normally only spends $20 on dresses, isn’t anywhere near as happy as I am about that sale price.
Anchoring is great to use if you’re running a sale - you’ll want to clearly state the initial price of the product (“setting” the anchor), and then display the sale price right next to it. You can illustrate how much they’re getting off in the sale, either as a percentage amount or a dollar figure amount.
#7. Loss Aversion
Fear of loss >>> pleasure of gain.
Seriously, we are simple creatures - we simply can’t stand to lose out on something. The psychology of losing something weighs more on a person’s subconscious than when something is won. We will do anything we can to avoid loss.
Otherwise known as FOMO (fear of missing out for the old folk in the back), loss aversion is why people will stand for 24 hours in the queue at the Apple store when a new iPhone is released, or why we might refresh our screens 4,318 times to get tickets to the Harry Styles concert. Highlighting this psychology in your marketing is highly effective because instead of showing them what they will gain if they buy your product, you show them what they will miss if they don’t.
#8. Reasons Why
“To buy or not to buy?”
People will always weigh the reasons for purchasing a product before checking out, especially if it’s an expensive purchase. Making sure you include reasons why they should purchase it, will go a long way in influencing that purchase decision.
Here are some examples:
In the product example, Sukin elaborated on the benefits that using their product will have on your skin. They have also used visual cues - in the form of awards logos - to convey “why”, because this is an award-winning product, so it must be good right?
In the example from Dubsado, they have showcased industry-specific reasons as to why their platform would be perfect for you. This means they can very carefully tailor their messaging because a florist might have different reasons for wanting to use a CRM than an interior designer.
#9. The Baader-Meinhoff Phenomenon
This refers to the “frequency illusion” whereby you encounter something for the first time, and then you start noticing it cropping up “everywhere” in your everyday life. Suddenly you see ads for the product whenever you watch TV, and you spot it when you walk down the aisle of the grocery store. And all of your friends seem to be using it. This phenomenon is caused by two processes - the first, selective attention, kicks in when you’re struck by something new - a new word, a new thing, a new idea. After that, you unconsciously keep an eye out for it, and as a result, you start to notice it more often. The second process - confirmation bias - reassures you that each sighting is further proof of your impression that this new “thing” has gained overnight omnipresence.
For marketers, this phenomenon is exactly why we place such an emphasis on nurturing our customers. Once someone starts noticing your brand, you want to help them start seeing you “everywhere”. And it’s exactly why retargeting works so well as a marketing tactic.
#10. God Terms
People are drawn to the word “new”. It’s why at the start of a new year, you’ll always see “New year, new gear” or “New year, new you” messages and sales. It implies a fresh start, and we all love that! We are also drawn to words like “free”, “happy”, “love”, “save”, “wonderful”, “joy”, “winner”, “power”, “strength”, “passion”, and other words along those lines. These are called “God Terms”, a terminology cluster invented by Kenneth Burke designed to inspire positive feelings of moral value within us. Using “God Terms” in your marketing can elevate your messaging in an inspiring way. One that makes people want to experience that feeling for themselves, “inspiring” them to purchase.
There are loads more psychology principles that I could include in this post, but hopefully, these 10 give you a good starting point to understanding and anticipating consumer behaviour and how that can help you produce better marketing for your business. Understanding marketing psychology will help you get closer to your customers and provide them with a better user experience, especially if you can find the balance between psychology, sales, experience, and value that keep your customers coming back for more!
